In our last year at university, my friend and I joined the University Singers, an amateur choral group supporting the more advanced singers within the School of Music. I think we saw a poster advertising the group’s plan to perform Handel’s Messiah that fall, and so we signed up. Thus began a lifelong love of... Continue Reading →
Dickens and Prince, by Nick Hornby. Pub 2022
Short version: Dickens may not be your cup of tea. Ditto for Prince. So the short version is: I really enjoyed this book, learned a lot, and found the comparison to be a fascinating look back at two artists of different mediums and times. If you are interested, but not so much you want to... Continue Reading →
Anita de Monte Laughs Last, by Xochitl Gonzalez. Pub 2024
My reading of this book is a three-part saga. Before: I previously read Gonzalez’ first novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, a recommendation from another reader. I thought it was okay, with some interesting characters and a story based in a culture unfamiliar to me (Latin American/Caribbean Americans in New York). When the author’s next novel came... Continue Reading →
A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters, by Julian Barnes. Pub 1989
After recently re-reading Not Wanted on the Voyage and The Preservationist, I wanted to revisit this book for its themes and images from the Noah’s Ark story. These appear in every chapter as either the topic of the chapter, a metaphor, or a mention by a character. Four chapters have a direct connection, while others... Continue Reading →
Knife, by Salman Rushdie. Pub 2024
I have only ever read one Salman Rushdie before – East, West, published in 1994. I don’t recall much about it, other than where and when I bought it – in 1994, in London. My copy is autographed by the author, something I thought extraordinary since he was still very much in hiding at that... Continue Reading →
Trio, by William Boyd. Pub 2021
There was much praise and hype about this book in the past few years, and after my enjoyment of Any Human Heart, and a few of Boyd's other novels read as audiobooks (Solo, Love is Blind, Sweet Caress, Restless), I bought this one last year and got around to it now. Briefly, the story follows a... Continue Reading →
Maus, by Art Spiegelman. Published between 1973-1991. The Complete Maus, pub 2003.
I hadn't had any interest in this until recently. My prior experience with graphic novels was less than engaging, and the glimpses I'd had of this one did not make it appealing - dark and violent, with animals in clothes. However, in 2022, a school board in Tennessee decided to ban the book (the day... Continue Reading →
Item #31: Robyn Mug
In a holiday tidy-up of my desk, I repatriated some mugs from their roles as pen-holders to their proper place in the kitchen cupboard. This one I call the Robyn Mug for obvious reasons. The mug comes from one of those paint-your-own-pottery places called Crankpots (the Vancouver location is no longer operating). As a team... Continue Reading →
Art, compiled by Shaun Usher. Book report #35 (2023)
Art, compiled by Shaun Usher. Pub 2020 I chose this book in order to satisfy the languishing category of "art" for this year's list. This little book of letters was delightful but very light. I think perhaps that artists - especially painters and sculptors - are not especially good writers. The best letters here are... Continue Reading →
The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Book report #18 (2022)
The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Pub 2018 I first heard about this story and book in an episode of the podcast This American Life. It is one of those stories of a seemingly oddball crime by an oddball character that takes the journalist and ultimately the reader to some fascinating places and times.... Continue Reading →
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